Tuesdays with Dorie: Espresso Cheesecake Brownies

My taste in brownies is usually pretty plain. Lots of chocolate and some walnuts– that’s pretty much all I need. I’ve never even had a cheesecake brownie…at least not until Melissa of Life in a Peanut Shell chose Espresso Cheesecake Brownies for TWD. Espresso and chocolate are a winning combo, so I was game to give the recipe a shot (in half-recipe form, baked in a loaf pan).

The brownie layer was pretty standard. My cheesecake batter was super-loose, though, and I was a little nervous that it wouldn’t set-up. I wasn’t able to swirl the extra brownie batter into it, so I just plopped bits on (hence the leopard-print spots) and crossed my fingers as it went into the oven. Success! The heat did it’s trick, and everything cooked up fine.

I decided at first to go without Dorie’s suggested sour cream topping for the brownies, but after eating them the first night, I thought they needed more chocolate pop. So the second night, I topped the remaining pieces with a chocolate sour cream topping. Not bad, not bat at all.

I love your “outside of the box” espresso cheesecake brownies. Agreed….good quality dark choco/walnuts/ooey gooey is my all time fav as well. Love the choco topping- think that would be way better. never enough chocolate right? I think my kids liked them alright. Thanks for a great tip!
AmyRuth

I thought the cheesecake batter was too liquidy too! It baked up just fine, but I wonder if leaving out an egg would make it easier to swirl? Not that there’s anything wrong with leopard spots. I really love the idea of a chocolate sour cream topping.